A Team's Destiny
by SpaceGrif
Summary: An ancient machine, created by humans of ages past, resurrected by the Light of a dying god, is brought to a world nearly consumed by Darkness, protected by little lights known only as 'Huntsmen'. Together, a fire-team capable of a reckoning like few have ever seen.


_The last thing he remembered...was darkness.  
This darkness was not merely the absence of light, oh no. This was a living creature, writhing and malevolent in every way it could possibly be described. All-consuming, it suffocated him, blocking out any sense of hope or escape._

 _He watched in horror as his Ghost flickered and faded, the spark of the Traveler dying much like he himself was. An ancient piece of technology, all but immortal, save for the darkness that permeated his soul._

 _But yet, he fought on: words could not describe the feeling, but he knew, somehow, that despite what he faced, despite the utter hopelessness of the situation, he must fight on.  
His Ghost and fireteam dead, his armor scored in dozens of places by weapons forged from hate itself, he struggled onward, knowing that this battle would be his last.  
But he would not go quietly into the good night. If he stood here and fought to his last, every shuddering breath he took, every sacrifice he made in body, was another victory. Every dead Knight was one less to assail the last City. Every strike he inflicted on the Hive, here and now, was one less to block out the Night.  
The Firebreak Calculus._

 _So he stood, a cliff in the sea of Hive, fighting to stave off the dark. A Guardian. He may have been born into darkness, his electric soul created to do fell deeds, but he would damn himself to the deepest pits of hell if he gave in, now. His heart may be whirring motors and carbon tubing rather than muscle and sinew, but it beat as true as any Human or Awoken. His skin may be metal and chrome, but he wore it proudly in defiance of the ever-growing dark._

 _His rifle clicked empty, and he threw it aside, drawing his sidearm. A massive hand cannon, each bullet striking like a hammer. He had few bullets, but he was determined to make each one count. He steadied his breath, and pulled the trigger, just as more Acolytes emerged from hiding behind the ancient pillars of the Hellpit._

 _The cannon barked, the muzzle flashing with white light, spewing Death from it's barrel, in the form of superheated metal._

 _The bullet streaked forth, taking the Acolyte in it's armored head. Black-green blood spewed forth from the impact, and the monstrosity fell, screaming.  
He fired several more times, each bullet taking down another Acolyte. When one got too close, he flipped the pistol over, slamming the barrel between it's eyes, before launching it backwards with a well-placed kick._

 _But more and more just kept coming, and eventually, his pistol too ran out of ammunition. He dropped it, readying his fists for the next wave, when a chilling scream echoed forth from the pit, chilling him to the bone.  
Out of the massive chasm strode a giant Ogre. An abomination even by Hive standards, standing at thrice the normal height of a man, and just as broad. It''s body was muscled and broad, and bore upon it many scars and dark crystal of pure shadow. Upon it's massive shoulders was a horribly deformed head, with no visible eyes. It's skull writhed and pulsed, as though it was infested by worms, and it's mouth carried row upon row of razor teeth. Even from here, his sensors could pick up the 'smell' that emanated out of it's gaping maw, akin to rotting flesh and corruption._

 _The beast swiveled it's head, nostrils flaring as it picked him up. It roared again, striding over to the Guardian, it's every step shaking the ground. It's passage threw aside many lesser beasts, from diminutive Thralls to massive Knights. It swept one massive, deformed hand at the Guardian, who turned and dived away, throwing one of his precious grenades at the beast. It stuck, and exploded in a violent display of Arc power, blue-white lightening arcing over the beast's gave a pained roar and swung it's arms randomly, crushing anything in it's way, from massive rocks to it's own kind.  
The Guardian rolled to his feet, swiveling, but the Ogre had recovered quickly, grasping the beleaguered warrior in it's iron grasp. The beast gave a victorious war, squeezing tight, sparks flying where stressed metal began to sunder and heat._

 _It turned to the Guardian, and, with both hands, squeezed even harder than before. If it could feel pain, the feeling would be excruciating. But instead, the Guardian remained calm, and, reaching into it's inner chamber, drew back, revealing the last of it's grenades. It pressed the detonation button, and waited for oblivion to come.  
..._  
When he awoke, it was to the sweet chirping of birds.  
 _Birds?_  
Ancient memories stirred themselves from within' the older machine, and, slowly, it hauled itself up, but, with a loud _pop,_ one of the primary servos in it's arms failed, and it fell back to the soft grass.  
It marshaled it's strength to pick it's head up, inspecting it's body with a critical eye. Much of it's body where the ogre had gripped it was dented, or otherwise damaged. Sparks flew out of it's damaged ribcage, where his core had only narrowly avoided total destruction. The rest was damaged beyond functionality.  
It let it's head fall back, questions arising in it's mind. Where was it? Where were the Hive? The Ogre who had not long ago been slowly killing him?

It let it's gaze shift, taking in the surroundings. This was no terrain the Exo knew: the trees were a bright red, and there were actual flora and fauna. The sky was blue, discounting Mars, Venus, and the Moon. But it had studied satellite images in it's internal database; there was no area like this in the world, at least not since the Darkness had come.  
So where was he?

Questions upon questions rebounded in his mind, with not an answer in sight. But before he could ponder more, he heard something, far to his right. It sounded like...talking? Laughter, even. A noise he has not heard in a long while.

The sounds grew closer and closer, until he sensed that they were barely ten feet away from him. He could make out the sounds much more clearly now. All were female, probably not yet full adults. Each had it's own distinct tune, and there were two.  
Suddenly, the voices stopped, and one of them sounded out above the others. "Hey, what's that?" a tinny, curious voice said.

There were footsteps, and then he saw a shadow entering his vision, blocking the light of the noon sun. The face was pale and soft, speaking of youth. Silver eyes were framed by deep midnight locks, dyed at the tips to red.

"It's...a robot." the she said, frowning down at him. "Doesn't look like Atlas, though."

Another voice scoffed. "It's just a bucket of bolts, Ruby." it said. This voice was noticeably older, perhaps by a few years. It carried a hint of arrogance in it, although it spoke of a hidden wisdom.

The Guardian decided immediately that he disliked this person.

Bucket of bolts, indeed.

"But what if it still works, Weiss?" Ruby said, nodding down at him. Slowly, she reached down to his head, tapping against the metal.

The Guardian's eyes flickered up, widening...well, as much as cameras could widen. "Hello." he rasped out, the damaged vocalizer in him causing the voice to come out with a static discord.

Ruby gave a small gasp, stepping back. He turned his head to her, and her surprised face, mouth gaping open.  
"Sorry." he said.

Ruby's face quickly transformed, going from surprised to gleeful. She quickly ran up to him, rose petals following in her wake. The Guardian wondered briefly about how odd that was, considering there was no roses nearby, but he was quickly bombarded with questions.

"Who are you?" was one. "Where are you from" "What happened to you" and, the most interesting of all, "Do you have any weapons?"

Before he could respond, however, another face entered his vision. This one could be defined by the word 'white'. A white face with piercing blue eyes. Unnaturally white hair was tied back in an offset ponytail, down a white dress with a white coat, with red accents. Finally, she had white boots. A blade hung at her hip.

"Ruby, let's go." the one he assumed was Weiss said. "Blake and Yang are expecting us."

Ruby nodded, but then looked down at him thoughtfully, eyebrows drawn together. "But what about him?"

"What about him?"

"We can't just leave him here." Ruby said. Gingerly, she reached one arm under his, lifting up, clearly struggling. "Ooph! He's so heavy!" she panted, dropping his arm.

Weiss rolled her eyebrows, and, eyes narrowing, gave a simple wave of her hand.

The Guardian felt himself lifted up by an unseen force, a small hum echoing through the forest.

"Let's go." Weiss said, strained. "I don't want to have to do this for too long."

She turned and strode through the forest, followed by his limp body, with Ruby walking alongside.

For a long while they walked, and Ruby simply stared at him, taking in his damaged body. "What's your name?" she finally said.  
The Guardian stared up at her. "Name?"

"Yeah, like what they call you." Ruby said.

"He probably doesn't have a name, you dolt." Weiss called from ahead. "The closest he has is probably his serial number."

"Oh." Ruby said, looking back at him. "So...what's your serial number?"  
"E457-." the Guardian said, almost automatically.  
Ruby frowned, scratching her head. "Well, we very well can't call you that." she murmured. "Didn't your friends ever call you anything?"

The Guardian shook his head. Truth be told, he didn't have any friends, back at the Tower: very few other Guardians, Human or Awoken, trusted one such as he.  
Ruby frowned, calling back to her friend. "Hey, Weiss, what should we call him?"

"Why are you asking me?" she asked.

"Well, since you know so much..."

"Ruby, I've never even had a hamster, let alone a robot. How would I know what to call it?"

"You don't even have an idea?" Ruby whined.

A loud sigh echoed forth from the older girl. Silence passed for a moment, before she called back. "How about Easy? Easy...Green, let's say."

Ruby thought about it, before smiling. "Oh, that's clever!" she said, understanding. She turned to the robot, and he could practically feel her joy. "So, how about it? Easy Green. It has a nice ring to it!"

The Guardian stayed in stunned silence. Nobody in the Tower had ever thought to give him a name. Most simply thought of him as 'thing' or 'you' or, on rare occasions, 'machine'. He had never been a person to them. He had been hardware, to be used and discarded.

Who were these people?

Eventually, he let his voice loose. "Yes." he cracked.

Ruby smiled, rubbing her new robot friend, before calling up to Weiss. "Hear that, Weiss?!" she called. "He likes his new name!"

"I could care less."

"That means you do care!"

"No, I meant...just...ugh." the girl ahead sighed once more. "Forget it."

If he could, Easy Green's smile would've stretched from ear to ear. Sure, he had been gravely damaged, his spark almost destroyed...but he was still alive, and now, these girls had given him a name.

Briefly, he remembered his first moments of life, back on Earth, and, finally, he remembered why he fought.

...

Easy Green, Ruby, and Weiss continued walking. As they walked, they talked. Or, rather, Ruby talked, while Green listen and Weiss gave the occasional huff, sigh, or dry comment. Green didn't mind, however: when Weiss did speak, it was usually to his detriment, normally in the form of insulting his robotic nature, or mocking his currently damaged form.

Ruby, on the other hand, was a veritable whirlwind of curiosity, a welcome change to Weiss's ice cold demeanor. She didn't seem to ask questions to get answers, or, at least, she didn't expect them. Instead, she seemed to use it as an excuse to talk, and laugh, and smile.  
It was odd, by Green's experience, at least, but not entirely unwelcome. In fact, he liked the conversation: it gave him something to focus on, other than the utter boredom of being dragged along.

"So, how did you get here?" Ruby asked, as she gave a critical glance at his battered body. "I mean, we found you in the middle of nowhere. Are you from a village? Who built you?"

Easy Green shook his head, struggling to make his vocalizer work. "S-s-stars." he eventually stuttered out.

Ruby looked at him, confused. "Stars?" she parroted. "Is that the village you came from? Or maybe the company that made you?"

Easy Green gave an internal sigh, and shook his head. Hopefully, she would understand, once he got his voice to work.  
If _I get it to work._ He reminded himself. He wasn't exactly a simple piece of machinery, and he doubted that these girls had any expertise to make him work.

Ruby frowned, and was on the verge of another question, when Weiss called to them from ahead. "Ruby!" she shouted. "We're here!"  
Ruby looked up, and nodded. In a burst of speed and whirlwind of roses, she was off.  
Now, Green could hear two more voices, ones he did not recognize. He was dragged along for a few more short meters, before being deposited roughly on the ground, the heavy metal weight of his body hitting the grass with a muffled _clunk,_ his back resting against the bark of an ancient tree. Luckily, this gave him a better angle to see the proceedings.

They were in a campsite of some sort, he noticed. Surrounded by cliff walls on three sides, jagged grey rock providing some sort of natural defense, with one entrance leading into the forest they had just come out of. Two tents sat next to a fire pit, which was currently unlit, cold ash gathered in the circle of rocks. Most intriguing of all of these features, however, was that there were two people in the camp, besides Ruby and Weiss.

One of the figures shone like the golden sun in a Venus day. Bright gold hair hung down to her waist, managing to look groomed yet mildly disheveled all at once. Her face spoke of happiness and joy...but yet, in her lilac eyes, Green could sense a..weariness, of a sorts. Like many Guardians he knew at the Tower who, after years of service, became tired. But she wore a smile that hid this from the surface. She wore a light brown overcoat with a yellow undershirt, exposing her midriff. She had what looked like the remains of a skirt, torn high, with remnants hanging loosely from the back, translucent cloth hanging longer on one side than the other. Finally, she wore tan boots, with yellow socks, pulled up higher on one side than the other, which contained a purple bandana.  
This one moved to embrace Ruby in a bear hug, and taut muscle flexed under her pale skin.

The other was almost the exact opposite of her friend, like the difference between night and day. Her hair was just as long, but midnight black, with a black bow atop her head. Her eyes were a bright orange, with a feline curiosity, but also a sort of wisdom to them, as though the young woman had seen too much too quickly, and was as a consequence stronger for it. She wore a black overcoat with a white shirt, leaving her belly exposed. Likewise, she had white shorts with deep black stockings, fading to purple near her black heeled boots. Where her friend was hard muscle, like one who lifted weights and ran, this dark one had a gymnast's body, all deceptively lean muscle concealing deeper strength.

"Ruby!" the golden haired one shouted, keeping Ruby in a bear hug. Ruby appeared visibly uncomfortable, squirming in her grasp. "Yang, y-you're squishing me!" she gasped. "Let...go...please..."

"Oh, sorry, sis!" Yang said, dropping Ruby to the ground, smiling. "Guess I still don't know my own strength."

"Yeah, sure." Ruby said, wincing. "I think you cracked a rib on that one."

"Yeah, well, maybe you shouldn't be so _cute._ " Yang said, pinching Ruby's cheek. The redhead scowled and slapped her arm away.

The sibling scuffle continued, meanwhile, as the dark one approached Weiss. "What's that?" she asked, cocking her head towards the robot.  
Weiss followed her gaze, sighing once she discovered what she was referring to.

"Oh, him. That's a robot Ruby found in the forest. Apparently, it can speak. Ruby insisted we take it back with us. I swear, she's such a dolt sometimes, Blake."

"She does seem to grow attached to things awfully quick." Blake agreed, frowning. "Does it work?"

"Barely. It looks like a Death Stalker crushed it. Even it's vocalizer doesn't work. It lasted long enough to give us it's serial number, but that's it. You have _no_ idea how annoying it is listening to static. "

"I find it calming, actually." Blake retorted. She turned and began walking towards the Exo, keen eyes scanning up and down. When she got close to him, about a foot away, she crouched down on one knee, cocking a single eyebrow. "Are you alright? Can you tell me your name?" she asked sympathetically.

Easy Green struggled to make his voice work. "E-e-e-e-e-e-e-e...zzzzzz-yy.."

"So, no." Blake said, shaking her head. "Well, that's a problem. Can you make hand sig...no, your arms are smashed pretty bad. Hmmm..."

It was at this time that Ruby finally managed to escape her sister's doting, rushing over to Blake in a flurry of rose petals. "His name's Easy Green!" she chirped happily. "He likes cupcakes, guns, the color red, and beaches, and his favorite hobby is killing Grimm!"

Blake turned to her smaller, younger friend, smiling like a mother would to a young child making up stories. "And you know this...how?" she asked. "Did he tell you, or are you just assuming things about him?"

Ruby blushed, looking down. "Well, no..." she admitted. "But I'm pretty sure he likes guns! I mean, just look at him!"

It was true, Easy Green admitted to himself. Even out of his armor, there was little doubt he was a robot designed for heavy combat. In his armor, he looked positively warlike, with blue-painted plates of armor over a heavy skeletal frame, dented and scratched from extensive combat.

Funnily enough, though, he did like cupcakes.  
Too bad he couldn't taste them. Or, for that matter, digest them.

Blake shook her head, turning back to Easy Green. "Not all that glitters is gold." she murmured, crouching down, observing his armor plating critically.

"What does that mean."

"It means," Blake began. "That not everything is as it seems." With that, she reached forward, hands roaming over Green's armor until she found one of the many release hatches. "Ah, there." she breathed, unlatching more, much to Easy Green's dismay.

"What're you doing?" Ruby asked, leaning in closer.

"Well, I'm gonna see if I can fix him up a bit." Blake replied, removing the torso piece completely, the heavy armor falling to the ground. This revealed his torso, which had yet more armored plating.

 _Can we not play with the ancient machine, please?_ Green thought, although without his voice, he couldn't really voice his opinion on the matter.

"Can I help?" Ruby asked excitedly, watching over Blake's shoulder. "I've got some tools for Crescent Rose that might help!"

Blake hummed a moment, staring at Green. "Why not." she responded.

Ruby gave a small shriek and rushed off, entering one of the tents. As Blake was working, however, Yang came over, lilac eyes sparkling. She leaned over Blake's other shoulder, smiling. "What's up, pussy cat?" she asked. "You playin' with this robot?"

"Ignoring the implications of what you just said..." Blake said, frowning. "Yes. I'm going to see if I can't at least make him move."

"Well, if that's what you're trying to do," Yang laughed, eyes full of mirth. "You might want to start by opening him up and actually looking at him."

Blake glared at her. "Excuse me, but I didn't know that you were an expert on robotics." she growled.

"I'm not." Yang replied. "But I do have a bike. And I know that, if you want to perform some repairs, you need two things: an idea of what to look for, and..."

With a rush of wind, Ruby Rose was back, waving around a large, red case, with a black rose painted on the case. "Found them!" she said, smiling.

"...Tools." Yang finished. "Huh. Well, I guess it's settled, then."

 _Nooo. Nonononononono don't do that._ he thought, panicking.

"What are you all _doing?!"_ demanded a cold voice.

 _Oh thank the Traveler._

"Hey, Weiss!" Yang said. "We're going to see if we can fix up Greeny here!"

 _And here is where she tells them it's a stupid idea._

Instead, Weiss scoffed, shaking her head. "Have any of you even worked on a robot before?"

 _Here it comes..._

She strode towards them, shoving herself between Yang and Ruby. "Move. If we're gonna do this, you might as well have an _expert_ to do it."

 _Oh Light no._

Ruby smiled, smacking a hand into her fist. "Alright, guys!" She proclaimed. "Between the four of us, with all our expertize.."

"Expertise, Ruby." Blake corrected.

"Yeah, that." Ruby replied. "I'm confident we can fix Easy Green!"

"Yeah!" the three others chanted in unison.

 _No!_ Easy Green screamed internally. _That's not how technology works! Four teenagers does not a doctor make!_  
Not being able to read his thoughts, however, the group continued, slowly removing nuts and bolts.

Eventually, they removed his chest piece, exposing his inner workings. Each of them gaped at the sheer complicated mess that was Easy Green's insides. Even Weiss turned whiter than normal.  
"Um.." Yang whispered, unsure. "We...we sure we can do this?"  
"How hard can it be?" Blake reassured. "We're just replacing a vocalizer."  
And thus, did they begin.

Blake ran one hand over her sweat-covered brow, peering at the insides of Easy Green. She held her hand out. "Wrench."  
Ruby passed a wrench to her. Blake used it to tighten a new bolt. "Screwdriver."  
"Baton."  
"Lightbulb."  
"Bubblegum."

So they worked. Almost two hours had passed, before they were done. The four students stood up, admiring their handiwork. They'd replaced the chest piece, repaired the freyed wires of the vocalizer, and managed to _not_ initiate the self-destruct sequence Ruby was sure he had ("There's a red button! Why else would he have a red button?!")

Blake nodded to Easy Green. "Alright, Green. I _think_ we did it. Can you...talk?"

 _Well, let's see.  
_  
Green attempted to activate his voice, the metallic "muscles" in his jaw flexing.  
His arm spasmed.

Blake frowned. "That's not supposed to..."  
His arm spasmed again, but this time, it violently jerked, blue-white Arc energy flowing up and down his arm, crackled of lightening emanating from his arm, most strongly his fist.  
Blake's eyes widened, and she reached over, grabbing Ruby. "Down!" she shouted, using one of her Shadow Clones to leap away.  
Green's arm spasmed again, the fist slamming violently into the ground. Nothing happened for a moment...then everything exploded.

Lightening bolts seemed to come from the ground, tearing asunder the hard rock. Weaponized Light energy shone from within' the crevasses, frighteningly bright. A bolt struck a nearby tree, and the entire thing dissolved into motes of light.  
Yang gave a shout as one of the smaller bolts struck her, sending her spiraling away, hitting the ground with a muffled _thump._  
"Yang!" Ruby cried, rushing to her sister's side, shielding them both with her cloak.  
Weiss, meanwhile, gripped Blake's arm, creating a shield of ice just in time to catch another bolt, the conjured wall heating red where it struck.

The lightshow went on for another minute, before it was over. When all was said and done, the clearing was significantly larger. The cliff faces were all gouged and shattered in many places, burned black in others. Several trees nearby had simply...disappeared, the only evidence being the smoldering craters where their root systems collapsed.

The team each edged out of their shelters, shaken but alive. Yang's hair was slightly frizzier than it was before, and one hand was shaking, but otherwise, she seemed fine.

Blake sighed, looking around them. "I guess that little project didn't work."  
"Not necessarily." Came a nearby voice.

Team RWBY all looked over at the robot, eyes widening. He sat in the middle of the crater, upright, and still leaning against the tree...but he had actually spoken!

"You can talk?" Ruby asked, incredulous. Green nodded. "Yeah," he said. "I think that little...outburst, was just my body's way of resetting itself."  
"That's great!" Ruby squeked. Yang, meanwhile, was looking in a handmirror she had retrieved out of her tent.  
"My hair..." she groaned, stroking the fizzled strands. "It'll take me hours to..."

A scream echoed from the opposite side of the camp, and Ruby, Yang, and Blake spun on their heels, hands dropping to their weapons.  
At the other side of the camp, on her knees, was Weiss, standing over a particularly colorful, smoking pile of slag. The tent next to her smoked slightly, a round, fist-sized hole smoking in the tarp.  
"My 700 lien make-up kit!" she shrieked. "Ruined! Ruined I say!"  
The other three smiled, putting away their weapons, going over to comfort their distressed team-mate.  
"Aw, sheesh, sorry Weiss." Yang said. "That really sucks. But you know what?"  
"What?"  
"I bet you were really _shocked_ to see that."

The wind whistled between the four for a minute, not a word being spoken.  
"I get it!" Easy Green called over from his tree, his face contorted in a manner that was as close to 'smug' as an inhuman robot could get. He remembered how she called him a 'bucket of bolts'. Appropriate payback.

Weiss sighed, standing up and brushing the grass off of her knees. "Forget it." Weiss growled. "I'm fine."  
She turned and stalked away, towards the forest, before stopping in shock.  
"Team RWBY?" she whispered. The three of them turned back, looking towards where their comrade was.

To find, staring back at them, the red eyes of dozens of Grimm.

Instantly, the team leapt into action, unsheathing their weapons. Easy Green was forced to watch helplessly, surprised when he saw the four teens pull out weapons that could only be described as utterly insane. Ruby pulled out what looked like a massive scythe, with a blade almost the size of his own torso, and...was that a _rifle_ at the top?

A cleaver-blade-pistol, a giant scythe, gauntlets that fired shotgun shells, a rapier that reminded Green of a multicolor pen...each just as insane as the last.

And yet, Green noted, brutally effective. Yang punched and jabbed, at some occasions sending her fists straight _through_ one of these "Grimm" which he recalled Ruby mentioning in passing on their journey, when discussing weapons. Blade moved faster than most Hunters he had seen, dodging and weaving and killing like a dark shadow between beasts. Weiss casts what seemed to be magic on-par with almost any Warlock he had seen, short of the Speaker himself, perhaps. Ruby's rifle was extremely precise at long-range, and propelled her scythe quickly to cut and tear Grimm who came too close.

They even worked together: Weiss would freeze some of the larger Grimm in place, allowing Ruby to target them with impunity. Blake would allow Yang to grab onto one of her ribbon-ropes, swinging her and clearing out Grimm from a certain radius. There were many other tactics besides these.  
They were probably one of the most effective fire-teams he'd seen.

But he knew a losing battle when he saw one.

He could see their stamina quickly flagging. There were just too many, and even they weren't immune to getting hit. Each hit seemed to drain them ever more, and still the monsters of darkness kept closing in. There were larger ones, as well: one the shape of a large gorilla from his ancient databases, and another roughly the shape of an armored scorpion, but as large as a spider tank.

Slowly, they were pushed farther and farther back, until they were within' feet of him, panting.

"This is bad." panted Yang.  
"No, really?" growled Weiss, dispatching a smaller creature that walked on two legs, with large jaws. "I hadn't guessed."  
"Any ideas, Ruby?" Blake asked.  
Ruby shook her head. "Too many Grimm, between us and the forest. We'd never make it."  
"Up the cliffs?" Yang suggested.  
"Maybe. But by the time we get up there, the Grimm might have already circled around."  
"Well, crapbaskets."

The four girls stood back to back, with Green leaning on a tree in the middle.  
Green felt helpless, watching the four girls who had rescued him, ventured to repair him, all now struggling against this enemy. He hated that he barely worked, and had no way to...  
Wait...

"Ruby." he said. "I think I have an idea. But I need you to help me."

Ruby turned to Green, frowning. "What's the plan?"

"I need you to hit me." he said.

"What?"

"Just trust me!" he said again, his voice rising. "And I suggest you do it soon."

"O...kay? Yang."

Yang nodded, and turned, walking to Green. "How hard?"

"Enough." he said. "In the gut."

Yang nodded, and drew her fist back.  
Green braced himself, hoping his theory was right.  
Yang's fist thundered into Green's stomach, and he felt the last ingredient he needed to do what he needed.  
Pain.

He looked up, and saw the Grimm charging at their position, howling for their blood.  
He waited until they were nearly upon them, before finally activating the ability granted him by the Traveler.  
"Ward of Dawn!" he shouted, thrusting his hands to his side, like he was pushing away two opposing forces.

The Light around him crackled and hummed, bursting away from him in a flare of light. When it was done, a humming blue shield surrounded the team, protecting them.  
The Grimm charge faltered, and they stopped, circling the mysterious shield. One curious wolf-like creature swung a claw at the shield, only for it to rebound off.

The team gazed around themselves at their saving grace. "Woah." Ruby said. "This is so cool!"  
Inside of the bubble, Light was collected and refracted, some from Easy Green, some from the area around them. Little dust-like orbs began to drift around, sticking to the girls, and then disappearing.

"Not bad for a bucket of bolts." Weiss agreed, swinging Myrtenaster in a slow arc. "But how long will it last?"  
"Twenty more seconds." Easy Green replied. "But there are other benefits: look at your weapons."  
Each RWBY member looked at their weapons, and noticed a mild blue glow coming off of them."  
"Weapons of Light." Green murmured. "They should be even more effective, now."

"This is amazing." Yang said, smiling and swinging her arm. "I feel like I just woke up. Better, even!"  
"An effect of the barrier." Green responded. "It heals wounds and hearkens the soul to action. Five seconds."

Team RWBY readied themselves anew, and, as the barrier came down, they exploded into battle, screaming fury into the storm of Grimm.  
They struck out, shot, stabbed, punched, and decimated their way through Grimm, their weapons leaving streaks of blue, their skins protected by Light.  
The large scorpion Grimm attempted to stab at Yang, only to find it's stinger gripped and brutally torn off. Yang spun the stinger around, throwing the point into it's head, as a strike by Ruby sent it through, killing the beast.

The gorilla-like monster roared, and threw any debris it could find at Blake, who dodged the effects as though they moved in slow motion. She leapt, and struck down, severing one of the Grimm's massive arms, and then the other one. With a swift kick, the beast fell.

There were many other fights like this, but Green began to fade away, his eyelids becoming heavy. _Why do I have eyelids?_ he asked himself, nodding off.  
The last thing he remembered seeing, was the fireteam's celebratory yell, followed by them walking towards him, smiles on their faces and triumph in their eyes.  
 _They're a good fire-team._ He though, before darkness once again took him. But while the last darkness had been full of malice and evil, this one was comforting, and promised a long rest.


End file.
